The Swine Health Information Center is trying to close the window on African swine fever (ASF) so the virus doesn’t get into North America, said Paul Sundberg, DVM, executive director of the organization. In addition to a comprehensive biosecurity review, “We’re doing real-time research in Vietnam as the ASF outbreak happens,” Sundberg said. “If it gets here, we’ll be better prepared to respond to it.”

Some breed-to-wean farms that have been vaccinated for porcine circovirus (PCV) have experienced breakdowns in their control of the virus. “We’ve seen disease consequences that we didn’t expect in well-managed populations,” Clayton Johnson, DVM, told Pig Health Today. Here he outlines his top five steps for managing PCV outbreaks. 

Sow lameness continues to trouble hog operations in the US, causing high numbers of involuntary removals from herds. These expensive sow removals can be reduced by identifying lameness issues early and addressing equipment hazards that lead to sow injuries, reported Michael Pierdon, VMD, Four Star Veterinary Service, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.

Seasonal infertility continues to be a widespread problem for sow herds across the US. And if you don’t have a problem with seasonal infertility, it may mean you are not recognizing it, reported Daniel Gascho, DVM, with the Four Star Veterinary Service office in Mexico, Indiana.

Gascho offers several suggestions for recognizing and dealing with seasonal drops in fertility that occur in late summer and early fall but may not be noticed until winter.

Water is as important for the growth and health of pigs as feed. As such, it makes sense to test a hog unit’s water just as frequently as the feed, according to Jim Kober, DVM, water quality-consultant, Holland, Michigan.

But water testing often doesn’t occur until a problem like reduced pig performance develops. An investment in regular water tests to spot problems early can save time and money for the farm. Kober offers recommendations for the water tests. 

African swine fever (AFS) has not been diagnosed in the US, but many industry experts feel its arrival is inevitable. The disease has continued its steady, insidious spread in other parts of the world, but the fact that the US has remained free of the virus to-date has given veterinarians a window of opportunity. 

The pork industry entered one of its darkest periods in spring 2020 when COVID-19 forced the shutdown of several pork packing plants. Paul Yeske, DVM, Swine Vet Center in St. Peter, Minnesota, helped hog producers in the area work through the closures. 

Since its introduction in 2011, the system to classify breeding herds according to their porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) status has provided swine veterinarians and producers with a well-defined common language. So much so that the system has been adopted worldwide by veterinarians, producers and researchers alike. 

Colostrum is vital to piglet survival but managing intake may benefit from some fresh thinking, according to Kara Stewart, associate professor of animal science at Purdue University. 

As part of the industry’s Improving Pig Survivability project, Stewart has been studying colostrum and related management practices. “It may not be a very popular opinion, but we have a lot of work to do in this area,” she told Pig Health Today. 

It’s not unrealistic to say that if you checked the nasal cavities or tonsils of any group of pigs, you would find Streptococcus suis (Strep suis). While the strain and impact can vary widely, this commensal bacterium is on virtually every hog farm. 

“There are differences as far as prevalence for strains when you look across the US and the world, but that changes as immunity waxes and wanes,” Matt Sturos, DVM, veterinary pathologist, University of Minnesota, told Pig Health Today. “That also changes as the bacteria move around and evolve.”